Chris Granger/The Times-Picayune archiveThe Six Flags site was photographed in August.

Having taken over responsibility for the shuttered Six Flags amusement park in eastern New Orleans, City Hall now must provide security for the site, and the City Council this week agreed to provide $240,000 for that purpose.

After much parliamentary wrangling, the council also approved spending $700,000 to lease a new temporary headquarters for the 5th District police station.

The Delaware court presiding over the bankruptcy of Six Flags Inc. agreed in December to allow the theme park operator to terminate its lease with the city for the theme park it operated before Hurricane Katrina.

The termination agreement called for Six Flags to make a $3 million cash payment to the city. The company also must give New Orleans 25 percent of its net Katrina-related insurance proceeds for the site if the settlement exceeds $65 million.

To get the security in place quickly, Assistant Chief Administrative Officer Cary Grant said the administration probably would amend an existing contract with a private security company to add the Six Flags site. But council members said $240,000 was too much money to be simply added to a current contract. They voted to require the administration to do a fresh "competitive selection" process to choose the security contractor for the site.

Council President Arnie Fielkow said there is "some security" now at the closed park and there is time to go through the competitive process.

Councilwoman Cynthia Hedge-Morrell said she was upset that the city had lost the money it had spent rehabilitating the space the police had occupied. She said she thought a large sum was involved, but Property Management Director Pamela Sims-Smith said the city had spent only about $50,000 on the building and had paid no rent for almost two years.

Told that the city's lease for the 5th District's new temporary home provides it cannot be evicted for at least four years, Hedge-Morrell agreed to support the $700,000 appropriation. There was no indication when a permanent 5th District station will be built.